


it is, apparently, a date

by IcebirdsMateForLife



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Dumb boys being dumb, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 01:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcebirdsMateForLife/pseuds/IcebirdsMateForLife
Summary: Sid is always around. Geno doesn't mind.





	it is, apparently, a date

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for the excessive use of commas. They really wanted to hang out in this story and I didn't have the heart to send them all away, but hopefully they found some good homes.

It starts in January and Geno doesn’t even notice it at first because they’ve always been hanging out a lot. Going to dinner together, just the two of them, watching games together on off days, little things like that. They’ve been doing that since they were rookies and there’s nothing really unusual about it. So when the invitations increase in frequency, it takes him about three weeks to catch on.

They go to dinner on a road trip, and two nights later Sid is over at his house to watch a movie. Three days later they spend their off day together just hanging out, doing nothing in particular. 

Sid is just...always around. And it’s not that Geno minds, exactly, because if it were up to him, he’d have Sid around all the time, every day, as much as possible without looking greedy. He’s learned to live with it by now, as you do when you’ve had a crush on somebody for ten years and not much hope of it ever being reciprocated. So no, he doesn’t mind. It’s just a little weird, is all. He doesn’t know what changed, but he’ll take it.

Well, okay. He does have some idea what may have changed, because Sid has always been a good friend and he’s probably trying to keep Geno company now that he’s single again. Single again for good this time, probably. And Sid doesn’t want Geno to be lonely and sad, because that’s just the kind of friend Sid is. And Geno _is_ lonely. And he is a little sad, too, even if he was the one who ended it. Being alone still sucks. So he keeps hanging out with Sid, and it’s good.

“I brought dinner,” Sid says as Geno opens the door, and holds up a stack of Tupperware containers.

“You have leftover pasta?” Geno asks, taking the containers so Sid can take off his shoes and jacket.

“No,” Sid says. “I made it fresh. Thought it would save us the trouble of cooking later.”

That’s so sweet and thoughtful, Geno smiles all the way to the kitchen where he puts their dinner in the fridge to heat up later. “What you want to do?” he asks Sid, who is following him on socked feet.

Sid shrugs and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I don’t know,” he says. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Sure,” Geno agrees, and follows Sid, who knows his way around Geno’s house as if he’s living here by now.

***

The restaurant is small and cosy and apparently Sid called ahead and made a reservation, because they have a private little nook at the far end, away from prying eyes and fans who just want a quick picture.

“Is nice,” Geno says.

Sid’s cheeks look a little red in the soft glow of the candle. “It had good reviews online,” he says. “The steak is supposed to be pretty good.”

They both order it and it’s perfect, and Sid gives him a little smile as their feet knock together under the small table but he doesn’t pull away.

Geno steers the conversation to dissecting their power play, because suddenly he just feels like reminding himself that this is not _that_ kind of a dinner date. It’s hard to remember in the setting. But it’s still a nice evening.

***

They have three days between home games and Sid insists on barbecuing in his backyard. It’s not really warm enough according to Geno’s standards, but Sid had sounded excited about it over the phone and Geno can never say no when Sidney sounds excited. So he bundles up in two sweaters and his warmest coat and stands shivering next to Sid as their dinner sizzles on the grill.

“This is nice,” Sid says. “The first barbecue of the year.”

Geno tries to stop his teeth from chattering as he nods, stuffing his hands into his armpits for warmth. “Nice,” he agrees. “Cold.”

“It’s not that cold,” Sid argues, and Geno smiles.

Sid at least takes pity on him once their food is ready and relocates them to his dining room. He even makes them tea so Geno can warm up his hands by wrapping them around the mug. 

“Rest of team didn’t want?” Geno asks around a forkful of potato salad.

Sid shrugs. “I didn’t ask them.”

“Oh.” 

“I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

Geno grins. “Best friend time,” he says, and Sid gives him a warm look.

“Yeah,” he says softly.

They end up sprawled all over Sid’s couch, having more tea and talking until after midnight, and Sid nudges Geno’s leg with his foot as Geno yawns widely. “Stay over,” he says. “You’re too tired to drive.”

Geno blinks at him sleepily. “I’m not bring any stuff,” he points out.

“I’m sure I can find you a pair of pyjamas that fit,” Sid assures him. “And a spare toothbrush. We can make a big breakfast tomorrow before practice.”

Geno can’t hold back the grin. “If I don’t know better,” he says, “I’m think maybe you try seduce me little bit.”

Sid laughs and shakes his head and kicks him again. “Yeah, right,” he says.

The ache in Geno’s chest is one he knows well by now, and it’s not unpleasant tonight. Maybe he can never have what he wants, but he can have this.

***

He knows playing the Flyers still makes Sid nervous even after all these years, even if he’d never admit it. So he isn’t too surprised when Sid knocks on his hotel room door that night, looking a tad apprehensive.

“I was just wondering…” he says, waving a hand, shrugging one shoulder, and Geno takes a step back, holding the door open, and waits until Sid steps past him into the room.

“You wanna watch movie?” Geno asks, and Sid smiles gratefully.

“You don’t mind?”

Geno will never, ever mind sitting on a bed with Sid, so close their shoulders are pressed together, watching a documentary about elephants while Sid slowly slides lower and lower on top of the sheets until he falls asleep with his head on Geno’s shoulder.

Geno means to wake him, he really does, but in the end he’s too tired and simply maneuvers them into a more comfortable position and falls asleep too, Sid’s warm breath against his arm and the solid presence of him comforting next to him on the bed.

***

“Good game,” Sid says, still hanging out just outside the locker room when Geno finally walks out - scoring a hat trick meant he hadn’t been able to skip out on a long postgame interview.

“Thanks,” he says, and his heart jumps a little at Sid’s happy smile. Sid is always so happy for him when he plays well. “You not go home yet?”

Sid’s grin is a little lopsided as he stares down at his feet. “I thought...you can say no, but I thought we could go out for a drink. To celebrate.”

“Yes,” Geno agrees immediately.

“Yeah?” Sid sounds hopeful, and Geno, even though he knows better than to torture himself with stupid indulgences, catches Sid’s hand to squeeze it briefly. Sid squeezes back and doesn’t seem to mind.

“Yes,” he says again. “I like that.”

***

He’s all packed up and ready to leave; his cab is going to be here later this afternoon and he’s ready for his summer to begin.

Leaving Pittsburgh for the summer is never too difficult, because he’s looking forward to spending some time at home, travelling a bit, having fun.

This year though he hasn’t seen Sid in three full days and while that is nothing new, nothing he isn’t used to, it makes the prospect of a summer apart look even harder this time. Leaving him. Knowing they’ll be spending an entire summer not being able to hang out. It just seems impossible. He’s become so used to his constant presence, to almost being able to pretend they were...more.

So maybe, he thinks, this separation will be good, after all. Maybe he needs it. He can still feel Sid’s arms around him as they’d hugged goodbye, can remember thinking about how well they fit together, and yeah. He does need to leave. He needs some distance to get his feelings sorted out so he can reset to Best Friend Mode for the beginning of the new season.

He’s making a final round through his house, making sure he’s packed everything he needs, when the doorbell rings.

“Sid?” he asks, baffled, as he opens the door and Sid pushes past him without so much as a hello. “We have plans? I’m thinking -”

“No,” Sid says, spinning around to face him, and Geno looks at him, the door still open behind him. “Sorry. I didn’t - I’m on the way home.”

“Okay,” Geno says. “You forget something here? I’m not find -”

Sid shakes his head, seeming a little impatient. “No, listen,” he says. “I have to catch my flight and I don’t have a lot of time, but I love you, and I just wanted you to know, okay?”

Geno...stares at him, then stares at him a bit more. Then opens his mouth, closes it again, and considers if maybe he’s lost his grasp on English completely. “You -” he manages.

“Anyway,” Sid says, and sighs. “I figured it would be better to just come clean about it, because I don’t want things to be weird between us. You’re important to me. And I thought if I told you now, we’d both have the summer to get over this and, well, to give you time to figure out if we can still be friends.”

I -” Geno blinks at him, and he really, really wishes he could work out what to say, but it’s difficult with his heart beating double time, feelings flooding his chest until it feels like there’s not enough room for air in his lungs. Feelings, a tender sort of hope, and a lot of confusion. He’s still not entirely sure he hasn’t just sidestepped into some parallel universe where all of this would make sense.

“I should go,” Sid says, and he looks almost a little embarrassed as he takes a step forward. “Sorry.”

“No,” Geno says, and steps in his way, shaking his head firmly. “Wait.”

Sid winces. “All right,” he says. “I know I made it weird. I just didn’t want...I thought it wasn’t fair to you if I didn’t tell you, so - I made everything worse, didn’t I? I’m sorry, we can - If you want to stop hanging out. I’ll leave you alone, I’ll figure it out, I’ll -”

“Be quiet,” Geno says, and Sid shuts up, brow furrowed as he blinks up at him.

“What?”

“Shut up so I can say thing to you too?” Geno asks.

Sid looks a little uncomfortable, like he’s expecting Geno to tell him he never wants to see him again, but he nods. “Sure,” he says.

“You love me?”

“Well…” Sid sighs. “Yeah.”

Geno doesn’t know if he should ask, but he just needs to know. “How long?”

Sid hesitates. “Um...a while?”

“A while,” Geno repeats, mostly to wrap his head around this.

Sid shrugs. “Uh,” he says. “Yeah. A few years, I guess?”

Geno almost laughs, he doesn’t know whether it’s out of happiness or frustration. “ _Years_?” he asks.

“Ten, to be exact,” Sid says, and sighs again. “Sorry. I probably should have kept my mouth shut.”

Geno does laugh at that, hiding his face behind his hands, and he can’t make sense of any of the emotions swirling around in his chest. He just knows they’re all good ones. “Dumb,” he says. “So dumb.”

Sid does look a little hurt at that. “Excuse me?” he says.

Geno looks at him, and his heart jumps in his chest. “ _Most_ dumb,” he says. “Me too, ten years. We could be married already.”

Sid’s eyes go wide. “You...What?”

Geno bites his lip, but he can’t hold back the happy little laugh that bursts out of him. “We both dumb,” he suggests.

Sid is blushing and his smile is soft and surprised and overwhelmed and happy all at once, as he says, “I guess.”

Geno takes a step forward, and another, and Sid meets him halfway as they finally, _finally_ , kiss, after ten years, with Geno’s front door still open and Sid’s suitcases in his car, Geno’s packed in his foyer.

They miss their flights. But it doesn’t matter much.

An extra few days in Pittsburgh are okay, as are their plans to meet up that summer, with Sid flying out to Russia and then taking Geno back to Nova Scotia with him.

Actually, it’s not just okay. It’s pretty much perfect.

It’s been a decade in the making, after all. But Geno knows, as he wakes up the next morning with Sid in his bed, their legs tangled together and Sid drooling on his T-shirt where his head rests on Geno’s chest, it was definitely worth the wait.

Maybe they can hang out a bit more today, and maybe they can finally, after all this time, actually call it a date. He’s looking forward to it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on [tumblr](https://icebirdsmateforlife.tumblr.com/) if you want to come and say hi!


End file.
